Long Beach State University
5-6, 4-4MPSF
UC Santa Barbara
6-7, 5-4MPSF
Beach drops five-set heartbreaker to UC Santa Barbara
2/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 12, 2010
LONG BEACH - Despite a season-high 38 kills from senior Dean Bittner, the Long Beach State men's volleyball team dropped a hard-fought, five-set heartbreaker to UC Santa Barbara Friday evening at the Walter Pyramid. Game scores were 30-24, 26-30, 31-33, 30-22, 15-13.
It was UCSB's first win over The Beach in three tries this year as the 49ers had defeated the Gauchos, 3-2, in the previous two meetings.
Bittner led LBSU (5-6, 4-4 MPSF) with his sixth career 30-plus kill match, while hitting .320. Junior Antwain Aguillard chipped in 11 kills and posted a team-high .471 hitting percentage. Senior Conor Eaton directed the offense with 63 assists, while junior Kirk Francis anchored the defense with 14 digs.
Jeff Menzel paced UC Santa Barbara with 34 kills and 11 digs, while Cullen Irons (15 kills) and Scott Slaughter (13 kills) also finished in double figures.
The two teams traded points in the early going, but UCSB was able to pull ahead 18-11, thanks to a 9-2 spurt midway through the first set. The Beach fought its way back and cut the deficit to two after a block by Bittner and senior Dan Alexander made it 22-20. The Gauchos then went on an 8-4 run, capped by a Menzel ace, to take game one, 30-24.
Behind 12 kills from Bittner in the second set, Long Beach State evened the match at one game apiece with a 30-26 victory. UC Santa Barbara took an early 12-9 lead before the 49ers scored three straight points to tie it up. LBSU then proceeded to go on an 8-4 run, capped by a Bittner kill, to pull ahead 20-16. The Gauchos eventually came back to even the score at 23-23, but The Beach was able to hold on as a Menzel hitting error ended the set.
LBSU and UCSB went point-for-point in a tightly played third game that saw 23 tie scores. The Gauchos held the largest lead of the set at 17-14, but the 49ers came back and eventually tied it up at 20-20 on an Aguillard kill. The Beach went up 30-29 after a kill by senior Tommy Pestolesi, but the Gauchos were able to hold off two game points until a Bittner kill sealed the 33-31 victory.
In the fourth set, UCSB used a late run to pull away with a 30-22 win. The Gauchos scored four unanswered points to take a 22-17 advantage and led by at least four the rest of the way.
UC Santa Barbara (6-7, 5-4 MPSF) once again used a late run to take a 14-11 lead on a Jake Rosener ace in the decisive fifth set. LBSU was able to stave off two match points, with a Bittner kill and a UCSB hitting error before the visitors called a well-taken timeout as freshman Dalton Ammerman missed his serve coming out of the break.
Long Beach State returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 18, when it welcomes Cal Baptist to the Walter Pyramid for a 7 p.m. (PST) non-conference showdown.
